Somethings causeing a lot of oaks to die in a local wood, possible fungi issue?

[awarner]

A friend of mine has a problem in his woods where a lot of oaks are dying, the sample he has given me looks like just an old part rotted branch but apparently the rot is right through the tree from top to bottom and it's like punk wood under the bark but the central heartwood is still solid.
I'm wondering if this is just normal rot (looks like wet rot) on a dead branch but the what has caused the trees to die as there are quite a few?
First thoughts were honey fungus but I can not see any signs of it.

Any ideas

 

[Robson Valley]

You get your local university people on this ASAP. It could sweep the country like Dutch Elm Disease did in North America.
Like the fungus carried by the Mountain Pine Beetle which combined with the bug to kill off 18,000,000ha in British Columbia alone.

Normal rot? What's that? Trees should be able to fight off disease for a century+.
I'm curious. The dead limbs. How recently can you suppose that they were living?

 

[didicoy]

Contact your local forestry commission HQ they will advise over the phone. Possibly even arrange a site visit. They are generally aware of most problems and threats around the Country at anyone time.

 

[Leshy]

Didicoy is right . The Forestry commission will want to investigate this and will help you identify the problem.

It's very unusual, I have never seen that before.
It does look like a fungal/bacterial infection.
Dieback can also happen in Oak.

What would help is if you or your friend, could have a close inspection of the bole (trunk) of the tree , look for any bore holes (some can be very small, others shaped like the letter "D") done by insects etc.
Also look for lesions , these should be more obvious , and sometimes they excrete a viscous substance .
Make a note of your findings and take some pictures, that will speed up the process. And will help the investigation.
Also another possibility is the presence of nests (see:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/opm)

I'll post a few links at the end of the post , so to illustrate what I mean about the lesions and bore holes.

The symptoms of some common diseases and pests in trees are often identified by these tell tale signs.

The leaves should also help diagnose, but of course it's the wrong season for them so that's a job for spring .

Here is some information and links that you may find helpful.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/tree-diseases-and-pests/

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pestsanddiseases

Search disease by species here:
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-9c9hhr#o

Also,

Googling "visual index of diseases in Oak trees" should yield a variety of reports and PDF's relevant to you.
Most are American reports but they are very complete and there's too many for sharing here...

Hope it helps.



But by all means do contact the forestry commission and maybe even the woodland trust.
They would all appreciate your input and perhaps some samples.

Sincerely hope this is an isolated incident and it doesn't decimate your friend's woodland.

Let us know through this thread what happens please, interested and concerned here too..


ATB

 

[awarner]

Quick update, after enquiring about when the oaks died it may have been a number of years ago and these are located in a wet woodland which an be very wet on occasion.
This makes me wonder if the oaks died to excessive prolonged water damage and the rot is possibly a wet rot which I have seen in my own woods in certain areas.
I'll strip the sample I have apart in a bit and see if there are any interesting fungi or mould signs.

 

[Leshy]

I wonder what happened in the end?

 

[NoName]

Oaks are majorly dependent on micorrhizal fungi (partly invisible) (which lives in coorperations with the roots in the ground), they are vital. Sort of like our good bacteria in our stomach.
Micorizha fungi have a hard time surviving when the forest floor is too densely covered with leaves and other too much organical matter. They can decrease alot, bringing problems to the trees but also plants like Orchids.
The thing that un balances this is (most probably) the amount of Nitrates and Phosphates from the air (intensive farming, road traffic etc) to name a few things.
Healthy Oaks dont die in masses by wood fungi/mushcrooms, we also dont get killed by fungi all the time do we? But, the wood fungi/mushrooms do indeed finish them of. but its because they became weak. They trees are very weak. But they (wood fungi (visible) are not the source of the problem. But it does can seem they are the cause which finish them off.
I hope I helped out. Maybe its not the case on this site, but the problem is well known by Nature concervationists and Biological Researches and is a big problem at loads of sites.
The importants of for instance micorrhizal fung is prooving to be huuuge. Some veteran ecologist will confirm this.

ps if Oaks are planted in very boggy areas (very accidic etc) they will not become very old and alot will dy within 7-10 years or so

if alot of big trees die on soil ok for centuries, the micorrhizal thing might be the cause

if one doesnt believe it (some hardcore conservatives here) too bad.

 

[awarner]

Thanks I will pass this on and I have now visited the site and there is a drainage issue which the ground is saturated.
The wooded area is densely populated and not as many dead oaks as I expected to find but the oaks that are dead have been infested with signs of beetle larvae more than I have seen before.
This makes me wonder that the wet conditions has weakened the tree creating a perfect habitat for the beetles.

 

[Leshy]

Thanks for the update, what an awful worry for someone who buys a woodland and tries to look after the best he/she can ...
Hope it works out ok in the end.
👍

 

[Robson Valley]

Do your best to identify the beetle larvae.

Some species are happy to attack otherwise healthy trees.
We have 18,000,000ha dead pine as testament to them.

Some can smell "death" and attack trees which are already beyond redemption.
They would indicate tree life factors other than the insects.